If you want branded gifts in hands before the holidays, there are two dates to circle: place a custom hat order by Friday, October 2, and a custom can cooler order by Friday, November 20. Hats need a mockup, a sample and then 7–9 weeks of production after sample confirmation; can coolers print from the design you confirm online and deliver in 2–4 weeks. Everything below works back from a delivery target of Friday, December 18.
Why can coolers and hats make the shortlist
The gifts that survive January are the ones people actually use. A can cooler lives in a truck console, a cooler bag or a desk drawer and comes out at every tailgate, lake day and backyard cookout for years — your logo goes with it, and it costs less than a greeting card. A hat is the higher-ticket version of the same idea: crews and clients wear the ones that fit well and look like something they'd have bought, which is why every one of our 7 numbered styles is photographed from several angles on its product page, so you can judge the shape before you order.
Both are ordered online at published per-unit prices, both take a single logo well, and both ship from Austin, TX to anywhere in the US.
The holiday calendar
Custom hats, standard speed: order by Friday, October 2
Your free digital mockup arrives within 24 hours of ordering; approve it and we make a sample. Ordering by Oct 2 leaves two weeks for the mockup, the sample and your approval; confirm the sample by Oct 16 and the full run is delivered 7–9 weeks later — by Dec 18.
Custom hats, faster speeds: ask first
Faster production speeds exist for hats. Tell us the date before you order and we'll confirm what's possible.
Custom can coolers, standard: order by Friday, November 20
Production starts at checkout on the design you confirmed in the designer, and orders deliver in 2–4 weeks — four weeks lands on Dec 18.
Custom can coolers, rush: order by Friday, December 4
Rush production runs 1–2 weeks for an additional fee. Contact us before you check out so we can confirm the slot.
Every window above includes shipping transit. If your team is spread across offices, order to one address and distribute, or ask us about split shipments before you order — that is easier to arrange up front than after production starts.
What to put on them
Can coolers: one logo on the front is the classic; the back is free real estate for a message ("Happy holidays from the whole crew", a website, a phone number). You choose the color and see the live preview in the online designer — what you approve is what we print. Standard cans and slim cans (seltzers, energy drinks) use different dies, so pick the one your people drink.
Hats: embroidery for wordmarks and simple logos, a PVC or silicone patch for a bold, dimensional look, a woven patch for fine detail. Our hat decoration guide compares all four. Pick one of the 7 numbered styles on the custom hats page; every price break is printed on the style's product page before you add it to the cart.
Budgeting: what a gift run actually costs
Can coolers start at $0.84 per unit at volume with a 100-unit minimum, and shipping is a flat $0.05 per unit shown in the cart. A 100-unit run for a client list is a rounding error on a marketing budget; a 1,000-unit run for an employee event is still cheaper than most catered lunches. The full tier table is in our can cooler pricing post, and resellers and planners should read the bulk pricing math.
Hats have a 50-piece minimum with volume breaks at every step above it. Because every style publishes its ladder, you can price three styles against each other in five minutes without asking anyone — and the free mockup means you see your logo on the exact hat before a single one is made.
How ordering works
- Can coolers: open the designer, pick standard or slim, choose a color, drop in your logo and text, check the live preview, add to cart. Production starts after checkout.
- Hats: pick a style and decoration method on its product page, set the quantity, check out, then reply to your receipt with your logo. Your mockup arrives within 24 hours; approve it, we make the sample, you confirm, and the run ships 7–9 weeks after sample confirmation.
- On a deadline? Say so before you order — one message lets us confirm the timeline while there is still room to adjust it.
Want the step-by-step for hats with real numbers at each stage? It is all in how to order custom hats for your business.
A note on the calendar
The dates above are for a standard-speed order arriving by December 18. If your gifts are for a New Year kickoff instead, add three weeks to every date. If they are for a December 5 client event, subtract two — and for hats, that means you are already in "ask first" territory. The sooner the sample is confirmed, the more of the calendar you control.